Shepard firmly believes that the American frontier is dead. Urbanization is the culprit, and has led to the destruction of the ethereal landscape of the West. In popular culture, the West was viewed as an organic utopia. Simply put, the environment had the power to revitalize the heart and soul of any individual. Seeing nature that breathtaking, and untouched by man evokes a romantic response both internally and externally. The attempt at rebirth is present in Shepard’s play, Buried Child, however, due to the current state of the country and the rapid expansion of urbanization, his characters cannot use the West to inspire their worn-out spirits. This family is entirely defeated at the loss of their American Dream. This play’s time period catches the tail end of a country in a depressive state. The 1970’s were a tumultuous time for the American people. Oil crisis’s, Stock market crashes, and the Vietnam War were major events during this decade. Buried Child, examines the deterioration of the modern American mid-west family through the ideals of the west, the representation of home and family structure, and the use of folklore and ritual. The New Group mounted a revival of Buried Child in 2016. This is the first time in twenty years that the production was seen on a New York stage.
The resurgence of the cornfield leaves many questions at the end. The land is allowing a rebirth, but will Vince fall into the same trap as the generations before him? Does his decision to accept the house show a generational advancement is approaching, or will Vince once again prove the American Dream is dead? Shepard manages to deconstruct the family dynamic by taking the already established form of domestic realism and dissecting the bits and pieces he needed to perfectly capture the enigma of a hyperreal family drama. It is painfully obvious that Shepard’s family form is purposefully crafted to reject the domestic realism style. Instead of writing a family that can connect personally with an audience, he “refuses to nurture the hope that human behavior can be improved” (Schlueter 14). Shepard’s main reason for the family’s inability to change is due to the death of the ideals of the American west. The land was once a beautiful, untouched paradise that was founded on the premise that it was a divine right by God. Manifest destiny, at the time, was a silver lining for any pioneer that wanted to expand and spread their ideas.They viewed this expansion as inevitable. Likewise, in America’s all too recent history, is urbanization now what manifest destiny was back then? For Shepard’s broken down family he “tears apart the idealized view of the nuclear clan exposing the disillusionment and despair beneath the rosy exterior. (Sheward Cultural Weekly) The shellshock of all past traumas has broken each individual in some form or another, physical and mental, and now what remains is the hollowed out carcass of the person it once was.
At the heart of this play, lies a troubled and frankly disturbed family. Mother and Father are entirely distant, having arguments from different levels in the house. The oldest son has failed to leave any kind of positive legacy, which has resorted in moving back in with his parent’s as a result of this failure. The “middle” son is odd, to put it lightly. His leg amputated because it got cut off with a chainsaw. The third son, dead during his honeymoon. Memorialized to the highest extent by his mother, who has delusional fantasies about his true identity. And the secret buried in the backyard. A child born of incest that was killed by none other than the patriarch of the family. This family is by no means normal, and that’s intentional. Shepard perfectly crafted these characters to look and feel like real people, however, upon a closer look the grotesque obscenity rears its ugly head. This play shows that, “Husband, wife, sons, and grandson, though recognizable as a middle-American farm family, prove to be caricatures, grotesque recasting of the ordinary into the strange.” (Schlueter 13) Shepard found a way to take a familiar form of dramatic structure and alter the appearance so slightly that it first goes unrecognized. This furthers the impact of the tragic events that happened in the past. The family is not normal and it’s obvious from the beginning, but the real meat of the text digs deeper to show how messed up everyone really is, even Vince, who left years ago. His return marks a similar retreat that Tilden had when he moved back into his childhood home. Vince’s intention was merely a pitstop on his way to visit his father, but by the end Vince has abandoned Shelly by agreeing to take the house and stay. He fully assumes his position as the head of the house since no one else is in the right mind to do so. Vince can be viewed as the only family member who hasn’t been tainted by this family’s curse (yet). Vince is the catalyst of the show. Without his intrusion, the show would probably be a broken loop of all the current actions we’ve seen so far (Tilden bothering Dodge, Bradley trying to assert his dominance, and the broken arguments between Hallie and Dodge.) Instead, the show takes on a much stronger familial connection, since Vince is the next of kin. He is the only one fit to carry on any family legacy at this point. It is very fitting that he is the last hope, since all other offspring never produced any children except for the legitimately buried child. Originally, the title felt as though it was only connected to the child that Dodge killed and buried, but upon further research, it seems that Vince can also represent the idea of the buried child, and even that of Ansel. After all, he was gone for five or six years and once he returns no one remembers him. He is metaphorically buried to them. It is only after he goes on his life altering car ride in the west that his family remembers him.
This is very much a memory play. Character’s either confront, accept, or deny any previous events in their life that may be labeled as traumatic. Besides the death of Tilden and Hallie’s incest baby, the death of Hallie’s child Ansel is also trauma inducing. With the use of memory and past events, and the ideals of the old West, this play leads itself heavily to incorporation of ritual as well as the use of folklore. The ritual of this play centers on the themes of heritage and mortality. Vince is the catalyst who sets these ideals in motion, without him the only story we’d see play out is Dodge waiting to die, Hallie screaming down to him from upstairs, and the sons wreaking havoc in their own grotesque way. The biggest use of ritual and folklore, besides the corn, is Vince’s drunken car ride. After being dismissed by all the people he thought he knew so well, Vince goes on his identity searching ride when he sees something peculiar. In the mirror, while looking at his own reflection, it morphs and changes to show another face and then another, proceeding to show him all his ancestors in this one moment. This metamorphosis take hold of Vince to show him what is most important; lineage and legacy. He must have realized in that instant that he was meant to return and take up the throne. In the folklore sense, Vince is the corn king. His arrival brought back the corn and rebirth in the farm. Even his entrance after this soul searching journey is dramatic. It can be speculated that “Shepard used his dramatic moment as a symbolic rebirth, calculated to correspond to the exact moment when Tilden, alone in the rain, must be pulling the decayed corpse of the buried child from the mud of the cornfields.” (Nash 489) This quote is referring to Vince’s intrusive entrance of ripping the screen door to get into the house. He is showing his desperation to be heard, and moreover, his strength to take over. Tilden and Bradley are wholly incapable of taking over. Vince is the only unaffected member fit to carry on the family legacy.
The cultural relevance of this show is much more prominent than one might believe. While there is no aftermath of a an unjust war, there is a great deal of corruption and injustice in our county. From racial discrimination, to gun violence, corrupt politicians, the US is in a depressing state. The family’s inaction and defeat can parallel the feelings that some people might be feeling currently. The New Group production of Buried Child that just occurred within the past two years. It was the first time that show had been on a New York stage in over twenty years. While it’s easy to remount an old classic, there has to be good enough reason to tell the story today. Ben Brantley put it best in his New York Time review, “Mr. Elliott and his starry cast give us a thoughtful, lucid presentation that’s absorbing enough to remind us of why it’s always worth revisiting Mr. Shepard’s haunted mansion.” (Brantley New York Times) The uneasy nature in which this piece was written can be aligned with a lot that is going on in the world today. Even though this family is rooted in the historical context of the 1970s, they exhibit terrible coping habits for the messed up things that have happened in their lives. They show why it isn’t good to repress emotions. It may seem simpler to cover things up and bury them deep inside, but eventually the truth will find it’s light. Nothing can be hidden forever. The production’s way of incorporating the dark secrets and rotting nature is distinct in their set design. According to a review from “Cultural Weekly”, “Derek McLane’s deceptively simple set, with its faded wallpaper and beat-up furniture, suggests the ruin of the characters.” (Sheward Cultural Weekly) This play wouldn’t work with an interior realism design. It needs to show age, and corruption, and despair to a certain degree, otherwise the characters would seem like they are complaining about things that don’t really affect them. We wouldn’t believe their twisted nature if their house didn’t reflect those dark memories. It’s often said that a living room is decorated how you want people to see you as, while a bedroom is exactly who you are. This living room is no longer trying to impress. At one point, it may have been a center for socialization and family gatherings. Now, the wallpaper is stained and peeling and the T.V only shows static. The set wasn’t dressed to the point of absolute decay, but without some hint of destruction the reveal of their darkest and most harbored secret would have less of an impact.
The old West is officially dead. It remains only in the thoughts, hearts, and minds of the individuals who lived it, or passed down through stories and tales by generations. The family in Buried Child, can’t get out of the past. It haunts them daily, eating themselves from the inside out. The only one capable of redemption by the end is Vince. He was never apart of the terrible things that they did. He was simply collateral damage. Vince’s late night car ride showed him that family is still important, no matter how terrible they can be. His decision to return, and take over the farm showed that there is possibility for change.